“Thank you! I will come directly,” he replied.
“Drusilla, you will not mention to anyone — what you saw a moment ago!” Theo said.
She paused in the doorway, looking back over her shoulder. “Oh, no! Why should I, indeed? I am sure Martin would very much dislike it if anyone were to roast him for being so heedless.”
With this prosaic reply, she left the Armoury, closing the door behind her.
“Gervase, what happened?” Theo said. “How came Martin to be fencing with a naked point?”
“Oh, he tried to cross my blade, but since I am rather too old a hand to be caught by such a trick as that, it was his sword, not mine, which was lost,” Gervase said lightly. “The button was loosened, I daresay, by the fall.”
“Are you trying to tell me that he did not perceive it?”
Gervase smiled. “Why, no! But the thing was, you see, that he was so angry with me for being the better swordsman that his rage quite overthrew his judgment, and he tried to pink me. I was never in any danger, you know: he has not been so badly taught, but he lacks precision and pace.”
“So I saw! You had him clearly at your mercy, but that cannot excuse his conduct!”
“As to that, perhaps I was a little at fault,” Gervase confessed. “But, really, you know, Theo, he is such an unschooled colt that I thought he deserved a set-down! I own, I said what I knew must enrage him. No harm done: he is now very much ashamed of himself, and that must be counted as a gain.”